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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25109026">Pygmalion</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelleDusk/pseuds/EstelleDusk'>EstelleDusk</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Agent Stone Never Has Good Time In My Fics, Alternate Universe - Robots &amp; Androids, Other, Post-Movie, Prequel, Sorry Not Sorry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 07:28:29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,538</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25109026</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelleDusk/pseuds/EstelleDusk</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>for humans were created in the image of their creator</p>
<p>what then stops humans from doing the same with their own creations?</p>
<p>from becoming their own gods?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik &amp; Agent Stone, Dr. Eggman | Dr. Robotnik/Agent Stone</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+FamiLee+and+Stobotnik+Servers">The FamiLee and Stobotnik Servers</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story will NOT be told in a chronological manner. It will be excerpts from before and after the moment described in this chapter. Unless told otherwise, assume all scenes with Robotnik happened in the past.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A younger Ivo Robotnik smiled at the camera, near unrecognizable from the utter <em> joy </em> in his eyes, the softness of his face. But Stone knew it was him, there was just something about his Doctor that he could always see shining through whatever masks and disguises Robotnik wore for the day.</p>
<p>Stone sat back in his stolen chair, sipped at his boozy iced tea, and settled in to watch old experiment logs. It’s not like he had anything else to do while waiting for the Doctor to find his way home. And he <em> would </em>, Stone had no doubt about that, he just wasn’t very helpful in aerospace science.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Experiment Log, Project Rock and a Hard Place, Day… Oh, I don’t care!” } </em>
</p>
<p>Stone muffled a laugh as he watched his Doctor throw his hands up before grinning so wide and getting closer to the camera, hands obviously wrapping around the badnik recording. The agent tried his best to shove down the split-second belief that the pure love in Robotnik’s eyes was directed at him.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Look at you… you’re finally online…” } </em>
</p>
<p>Ah, so it’s one of <em> those </em> logs. Stone’s been witness to a number of video logs where the doctor simply gushed to the creation in question how wonderful they were. Good, he could use some false encouragement.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “There were so many pitfalls, so many errors, so many times I thought you would finally be online but it was never the right time. You’re my masterpiece, my magnum opus, I’ve tried to build you since grade school and I never had the right materials. But you’re here now.” } </em>
</p>
<p>He wondered which experiment this was, he can’t recall ever actually hearing Robotnik call any of his creations his magnum opus, but this was when the doctor was young. Perhaps the creation’s been destroyed by the time Stone started working for him?</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Artificial Intelligence, you’re still housed in just a normal badnik of mine, I’ll have to fix that eventually, get you a body more befitting of your beautiful mind. Wouldn’t want for you to accidentally end up sent out to war, no you’ll stay right here in my lab, by my side. You’ll never leave my side if I can help it, Stone.” } </em>
</p>
<p>Wait...what?</p>
<p>He sat up, putting the drink down, and intensely watched the screen. The slight movement of the doctor caressing the side of the badnik was caught in the camera. The adoration was clear in his eyes. And as Stone knew very well by now, his Doctor was a terrible liar.</p>
<p>Which meant...Doctor Robotnik had an A.I. named Stone, and an agent named Stone. There was an implication there that he didn’t want to look at, so he ignored it. But his insatiable curiosity wouldn’t let him stop at the end of that video.</p>
<p>He had the computer find all experiment logs for Project Rock and Hard Place.</p>
<p>He <em> ignored </em> the unbidden thought that kept creeping up, about how nothing is a coincidence with the good doctor.</p>
<p>He ignored how the upload date for the most recent log was the day Robotnik disappeared, only noting that that meant the A.I. must still be around and not destroyed. </p>
<p>Yet he’s never seen it? Never heard of it? With how close he always is to the brilliant man, how could the doctor restrain himself from talking about his greatest creation? For close to 20 years now, he joined the doctor fresh out of high school.</p>
<p>How could he have never known about the greatest breakthrough in the world? Was it really so secret he would keep it from his closest agent?</p>
<p>Stone marathoned the videos.</p>
<p>He watched the doctor’s joy droop into haggard tiredness as he rebooted his masterpiece. Giving it a hard reset and tweaking the parameters, hoping it wouldn’t destroy itself again.</p>
<p>But it did.</p>
<p>According to the logs, it kept breaking down whenever it realized it was false, created by a madman with a wrench. The times between the resets became longer and longer, but they still happened too frequently.</p>
<p>Stone could feel the despair emanating from the doctor every time the camera turned back on after a hard reset. He could see the hard lines and wrinkles forming on that beautiful face. He watched the hope spark back into his eyes when the next video feed started with staring at the ceiling and the doctor hovering over the badnik.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “How do you feel?” } </em>
</p>
<p>He could feel the nerves through the video, he could see it in the way Robotnik moved his fingers. A connection tried to make itself known to Stone and he ignored it. He <b>shoved</b> that thought away.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “I feel fine, Doctor…” } </em>
</p>
<p>Wait.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Try to move your limbs… you were out for a while.” } </em>
</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Nonono, no!</p>
<p>As the badnik sat up, familiar dark limbs flashed into view as it stretched.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Was I? I feel strong… almost new! Haha! I am a bit stiff, I’ll admit, but nothing a good workout won’t fix, right?” } </em>
</p>
<p>He knew that voice, Stone knew that voice intimately.</p>
<p>
  <em> { “Did you miss me much, while I was out, Doctor?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> “Don’t be ridiculous, I wouldn’t miss you if you were gone, Stone, I’d only miss the fact that now I have to do all the paperwork myself.” } </em>
</p>
<p>Stone shut down as a familiar laugh echoed in his ears.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>hey look! it's the doctor!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Doctor?"</p>
<p>"Yes, what is it, Stone? Can't you see I'm busy?"</p>
<p>He did, he knew Robotnik was busy. The Doctor is always busy, but if Stone has learned one thing from <em>all these years</em> working with him, it's that Robotnik will <strong>always</strong> make time for him. And just like Stone knew he would, the genius put down his wrench and turned to face him. </p>
<p>"I've been thinking… I came to work for you right after high school." If Stone had been watching his boss and not the polished floor he would have seen the barest twinge of emotion cross the doctor's face. "And I never really had a chance to go to college, but I would like to. I have enough saved up, and I could do virtual school. I'm asking, no, <em> telling </em>you because it will take up a lot of my time for the next four or more years. And…"</p>
<p>Here, Stone trailed off, nibbling his lower lip. He had already basically demanded time off, he might as well go the whole way, right? He's surprised enough that his boss hasn't interrupted him yet. "And I think it's time you hire someone else."</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"Doctor--" Stone stepped forward.</p>
<p>"Out of the question, Stone." Robotnik waved dismissively, glancing at his computer screens for a moment.</p>
<p>"I want to be more useful to you." The agent raised his hands before dropping them again, his eyebrows furrowing in thought.</p>
<p>"You're plenty useful already, no one else is allowed in my domain and that's final." The doctor turned back to Stone quickly, eyes narrowed as he pointed at him.</p>
<p>"Okay,” Stone shifted his stance, staring straight at the doctor, fists clenched at his side, “I quit."</p>
<p>“You will do no such thing.” Robotnik stood so quickly, his chair flew back and hit the desk with a startling clang. He stalked forward and Stone fought the urge to move backward until his back met the wall. He stood firm and ignored the heavy weight in his gut telling him that he displeased the doctor. He was his own person, he can make choices his boss won’t like, but at the end of the day, Robotnik does not own him. </p>
<p>He just had to remind the Doctor of that.</p>
<p>“You are <em>not</em> my father, my brother, my husband, or my boyfriend. They would have no right to deny me, and as my boss, you have even less right to choose how I spend my time.”</p>
<p>The Doctor was in his face now, towering over him. That calculating gaze was focused only on Stone. “...You’re right, for once. I am<em> just </em>your needy, volatile, possessive boss, who will <strong>NOT</strong> allow anyone to even<em> partially </em>take your job. Your contract said you’re <strong>mine</strong> until the day you die, Stone. And you know what my <em>dear</em> little assistant? I’m considering necromancy for the <em> very unlikely </em>day that happens.”</p>
<p>“Humans die, Doctor.”</p>
<p>“Then I guess you’ll be joining me when I transcend humanity.”</p>
<p>Stone couldn’t help it, he softened. He still held himself back from touching the other man, but after that? With Robotnik all but saying a truth they both know and yet ignore? It’s hard to not smile at him. Oh, what he would give to just reach over and touch his cheek, reassure him with touch. But the genius has been touch-averse for as long as Stone’s known him. He stayed his hand with all his will and hoped his eyes showed how much he cared instead.</p>
<p>“I <b>am</b> going, better late than never is what grandma used to say. But. I <em> want </em>to stay working for you. I want to stay by your side, Doctor. I want a seemingly useless degree of my own to lord over people with. I missed that part of my 20s, I don't want to miss more.” Stone watched the Doctor’s own hard face soften, before the man sighed and turned away, fidgeting with his gloves.</p>
<p>“Your grandmother? You’ve never mentioned her.”</p>
<p>“She died when I was young, I barely even remember her. Not that I remember much, what with the…”</p>
<p>“Fog, yes, I know. Any memory is better than none in your case.” Robotnik waved a hand, dismissing the subject.</p>
<p>Sometimes Stone forgot that the doctor knew his entire life, or what little he could remember. He thinks he asked once, how their relationship with each other had been before he woke up that day, but then, the Doctor had been so worried that day, nitpicking over every little thing and swearing he didn’t care, Stone figured it was obvious. </p>
<p>“What degree? Bachelor’s I presume.”</p>
<p>“I was thinking bioengineering, some organic chemistry.”</p>
<p>“You want to study life…?” There was a strangeness to the way Robotnik said that, that Stone wondered if they had heard the same thing.</p>
<p>“You seem to have everything else covered. Thought I might try to fill in any blanks.”</p>
<p>Robotnik nodded, leaning back on the desk with his arms spread out on either side, facing his assistant. “It will be difficult, I won’t go easy on you just because you’re studying. I did two doctorates at once, you’ll be held to my standards.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure I’ll be fine, you’ll probably end up grilling me randomly throughout the day like you did with the employee handbook when I started. The only hard part will be getting around how I don’t legally exist.” Stone chuckled before deciding they were casual enough that he could join the doctor on leaning on the desk.</p>
<p>Robotnik’s face was blank for only a moment before it lit up. “Oh! Right, right, give me an hour and you’ll have a brand new non-classified identity.”</p>
<p>“Thank you, Doctor.”</p>
<p>“You’ll thank me when you get a doctorate of your own. Failure to complete this will be seen as your resignation, Stone.” Robotnik firmly nodded.</p>
<p>“Of course, Doctor.” A soft smile spread over Stone's face. Funny how <em>he</em> isn't allowed to joke about resigning but the doctor can joke about it.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>True to his word, Robotnik issued a brand new identity to his creation. Maybe Aadam Boutros was a bit too on the nose, but it’s not like anyone else knew just who or what Stone was, besides his assistant. Any other agent with even slight knowledge of linguistics will hear the name and just wonder if he really couldn’t come up with a better cover name. Everyone else? They'll shrug and move on.</p>
<p>They’ll never hear the name Stone and think of anything but Robotnik’s seemingly strange fascination with only employing agents with nature-esque codenames. They’ll never know the time and effort he had put into picking the best name for his grand design. How long he had deliberated on whether to name the android in English or some foreign tongue. How long he picked and re-picked colors and features that were aesthetically pleasing and most importantly, <em>natural-looking</em><em>.<br/></em></p>
<p>Not a single other person in this world will hear the name Agent Stone or Aadam Boutros and realize just how much Robotnik had put into creating the perfect being.</p>
<p>And how completely ironic it is that he would name the cornerstone of his genius… Stone. Now in Arabic too. </p>
<p>He still doesn’t know where Stone got the idea from that he grew up speaking Arabic, but Robotnik wouldn’t change that. That was the whole point of this experiment of a machine that can learn and invent just as well as a human! Any little invention Stone thought of to fill in the purposeful blanks of his life prior to Robotnik, would be honored and accepted as though they had actually happened.</p>
<p>Now Agent Stone had a grandmother that died when he was young. But the Doctor knew where that story came from, it was his own past come back to bite him in the ass. A few changes, but still similar enough for him to recognize the words once muttered to a crappy microphone as he spoke to a machine that hadn’t yet learned how to respond. For Robotnik, it had been a grandfather, the saying Stone had repeated had been the first words the man spoke to young Ivo, when he came to pick him up from an orphanage. Not that Ivo had spent very long with him before his death and Ivo's adoption by the government.</p>
<p>Robotnik watched the folder full of Stone's memories on his computer grow as the artificial man in question settled down to sleep and recharge, and unknowingly save the day’s data.</p>
<p>He could click in there right now.</p>
<p>Read and analyze Stone’s every computer process throughout the day.</p>
<p>Learn what exactly prompted that curious query about college.</p>
<p>He could delete the wish.</p>
<p>Have his Stone back to his side and wanting nothing more.</p>
<p>He stared at the folder while idly tapping his fingers on the chair arm.</p>
<p>He stood and walked away, deciding that Stone had the right idea and he should get at least a few hours of sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The lab was turned every which way. Stone’s sole thought since the videos, had been to confirm the claim. That he was…</p><p>He refused to believe it. Why should he? He simply shared a name with one of the Doctor’s creations. And face. Build. Memories. But that<em> didn’t </em>mean Stone the man and Stone the A.I. were the same person.</p><p>Obviously, Doctor Robotnik had been doing an experiment using his most trusted agent and hadn’t wanted the real Stone to accidentally ruin it by knowing too soon about it. Obviously this was just a robot Stone, for the Doctor to study his current method of transcending death and becoming perfect robots. He had mentioned that a few times before with such a longing look in his eyes.</p><p>Obviously, he was a human.</p><p>So why hasn’t he been able to find the robot with his name?</p><p>He’s gutted the lab, badniks looking on blankly or even helping him to lift things, where before they only obeyed Ivo. Before the videos, he had assumed they were docile because of some coding that said he was next in the chain of command should the Doctor ever not be available. Now he wondered just what their programming said.</p><p>After a week of searching on his own, Stone finally gave up. He turned to the badnik that had been hovering over his shoulder for the past few days, ready and willing to get whatever he asked, and he took a deep breath.</p><p>“Show me Project Rock and a Hard Place.”</p><p>It beeped and scanned him. His breath caught and he didn’t even need to look at the holographic display to know the truth now.  He knew as soon as he asked, he would get confirmation either way.</p><p>The Doctor did all the thinking for his babies. He got their brains started and gave them access to a constantly updated database of information, numbers, and test trials. Whatever one of them saw or knew, the others would know with a single query. The network was far more advanced than Google and ignored any order not given by the Doctor or Stone himself.</p><p>The badnik already knew exactly who he was, the lack of a gun in his face these past days proved that. So why would it need to scan him? He looked at the display and wondered.</p><p>Was there truth in anything he knew at all? Is this why he had such severe brain fog? Why Robotnik seemed to know his life and yet questioned even the simplest of memories at times.? Is this why he was so insistent Stone never leave, despite claiming he wouldn’t care?</p><p>In the past, Stone would admit, he had assumed the fog and Robotnik’s clinginess had been the result of something drastically nefarious, such as having been kidnapped and brainwashed as a child to be the perfect soldier.</p><p>He could have accepted that.</p><p>Sure that would have been terrible and made his feelings for the man completely invalid, but it was believable, unfortunately, common around the world, not fantastical in the least.</p><p>Instead, he’s a fucking <em> robot </em>and his feelings are not just invalidated and false, but possibly created by the man himself. Stone leaned back in Robotnik’s chair, hand to his forehead, and laughed loud and carefree. Reminiscent of that man’s maniacal laughter, but strangely with more feeling than one would expect from a machine.</p><p>Did fucking Ivo Robotnik engineer the care with which Stone used? Did he cackle upon learning his magnum opus had learned such a silly thing as to love? Did he sit in this very chair, choking on mad laughter upon learning it was the roboticist Stone loved? Plotting to study how it worked?</p><p>Were the tears running down his face even water? Was it oil or blood running through his veins? Or perhaps, and this would be the strangest yet somehow most believable part, was Stone’s brain a machine and his body just a fridge to hold emergency organs and blood in case the Doctor ever got injured enough to require a transplant? A walking and talking plant to harvest, to offer up pieces of whenever Robotnik needs a specific part.</p><p>His brain… mainframe(?) hurt. This was too much for him.</p><p>Here he had been, barely a month ago, smiling at the Doctor in one of his manic phases of building. Watching and thinking to himself how much he loved his job, how lucky he was to be the one most trusted out of so many other agents. Wondering if maybe he could finally get the courage to confront<em> his </em> Doctor about what he believed were shared feelings of attraction.</p><p>But he was wrong.</p><p>He had been so wrong.</p><p>The Doctor felt nothing for Stone beyond the usual curiosity and affection he held for all his badniks.</p><p>And wasn’t that just the worst part of finding this out now?</p><p>When his creator comes home, he’ll learn that Stone knows the truth now, he won’t be able to hide it at all, so he wouldn’t even try.</p><p>And then the fog will return in force, he knew it would, because he’s watched enough of the video logs, and he knows that the Doctor would rather reset Stone’s memory chips rather than let him destroy himself.</p><p>Stone eyed a drawer that he knew contained powerful magnets that he had always been banned from going near without protection.</p><p>Knowing how much it would hurt his Doctor to come home to another broken Stone stayed his hand.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>He smashed a smaller stone against the face of a larger one. Slowly chipping out small dips until the rock resembled a human face. He wished for a river, not just for the water and fish, but also for the sand he could use to smooth out the edges better.</p><p>It’s funny really.</p><p>Decades of talking to Stone no matter how inanimate had caused a pattern.</p><p>As long as he had a Stone to talk to, his sanity was firmly in his grasp.</p><p>Maybe now that he had a Stone, he could focus on dismantling his broken ship and getting home to his <em>real</em> Stone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Why doesn’t… nevermind.” Stone’s voice was small, almost childlike, and the softest thing imaginable. But Robotnik heard it all the same. His ears were perked only for his experiments, and wasn’t Stone just the most beautiful of them all?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>What caused such a perfect mechanical voice to hold such sadness?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivo put the tablet down and turned towards the </span>
  <em>
    <span>man</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the medical bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Out with it.” Was his own voice too gruff, too harsh for the innocent being’s ears? No, it should be fine. Stone was still learning emotions in voices, he doubted he’d be able to get offended by a rough voice. Still… “If you keep it all locked up in your head, you won’t be able to focus on </span>
  <em>
    <span>healing</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Stone. So come on, say whatever ran through your little head, and let’s sort that out before it gets distracting.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stone’s shoulders were wide, muscular. His entire body was pure engineered power. And it just struck Ivo as </span>
  <b>wrong</b>
  <span> to see those arms curl around knees in an attempt to hide.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No one remembers me. No one’s come to visit me. Not one of the other agents I’ve seen wandering around are even slightly curious about who I am and why I’m in this room. None have questioned where Agent Stone is, or when he’ll return to active duty.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivo’s fingers twitched, rubbing them together as he thought over the words his magnum opus stated. And he did </span>
  <em>
    <span>state</span>
  </em>
  <span> them, he didn’t ask. There was no hesitation once he was given the go-ahead. He must have been thinking it over for a long time, longer than he had been online once again. Ivo thought back to all the times he had wanted comfort as a child, and knew he would not have wanted his guardian to be all macho; he allowed his own muscles to loosen up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He wasn’t the best at knowing how to comfort, but he simply thought of what he would have wanted. He sat on the bed with Stone, keeping some distance between them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It sounds like </span>
  <em>
    <span>someone</span>
  </em>
  <span> has been hacking the badniks while I’ve been away.” He let amusement flow into his voice, that was one emotion he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> Stone should be able to recognize. It was honestly funny in a strange way. There’s no other way Stone could have known what was going on outside of the room, and yet he did.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stone ducked his head beneath his arms before peeking over them at his creator, who could definitely see the slight smile on his face. “It’s not hacking when they offer up any information I ask, Doctor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose you’re right, Agent Stone… and that’s why no one’s been gossiping about you.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Because… I talk to your badniks?” Ivo decided he would save a picture of that look of confusion to his phone as Stone’s caller ID. It was so lifelike, a prime example of all his hard work...</span>
  <b>their</b>
  <span> hard work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stone, I’m a highly classified man.” He waited for a nod, then continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ninety-nine percent of the government doesn’t even admit I exist! So why… would my most trusted agent be </span>
  <em>
    <span>known </span>
  </em>
  <span>when he’s never away from my side?” He pat Stone’s knee through the blanket, nodding sagely before waving his other hand idly. “Especially not </span>
  <b>anymore</b>
  <span>. Last time I left you alone is why you’re in here, healing, and I’m stuck drawing my blueprints on a tiny screen.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Doctor, you can just lea--”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Never, Stone. Even out of commission, I trust your trigger finger more than any of those agents out there.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t get a response for a while, not a verbal one. Ivo watches Stone slowly uncurl, not much, just enough to not obviously be hugging himself anymore. “Thank you…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He waved off the thanks, reaching for the forgotten tablet and getting back to work as he remained on the bed with Stone. Ivo hadn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>lied</span>
  </em>
  <span> to Stone, but he hadn’t told the full truth. If he had things his way, he would never tell him the truth. Every single time Stone’s known the truth and been left alone, Ivo would come back to a broken android. Malfunctioning brain and all.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s not sure he can handle it again, but he’ll have to. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’ll just keep Stone too busy to think about himself and all the inconsistencies Ivo hides with filters to Stone’s senses. Like now as he adjusts the filters on Stone’s eyes to ensure they only see unmarred brown skin with the occasional life-giving needle sticking out, and not the shining white metal casing with wires sticking out that Ivo can see wherever he had to repair the body.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once he’s certain he won’t have to open the man back up, he’ll reactivate the faux skin. Until then, he’ll keep him company and fine-tune the update.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>...What was it that caused the last malfunction?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivo peeked at Stone, saw him uncurl even more as he waved over a badnik, and whisper to it. Satisfied that the sophisticated robot was distracted, the genius opened up the last automatically uploaded audio-visual logs of the previous Stone. He made sure the volume would only go through his earpiece and ensured Stone wouldn’t register it if he chanced hearing or seeing it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then he watched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Stone had gotten shot while defending the lab in Ivo’s absence. That explained the automatic upload; it happened whenever he got damaged in some way until Ivo could patch him up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Rather than wait for Ivo to return, Stone had tried to dig out the bullets on his own and discovered his own mortality. Or rather, his immortality. The visual filters had failed as they had been deemed non-essential to keeping the body running. Stone’s vision of his own blood had blinked from red to oily black and another liquid so clear you’d think it was water if not for the smell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Fuel. Ethanol, specifically.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which the Stone of that time registered once his mainframe decided that a full sense of smell would be necessary to ensure longevity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With the Inner Thoughts Readout on the left side of the screen detailing what was going on in Past Stone’s brain, Ivo decided he was done watching. He didn’t need to see what was to come. He didn’t need to see Stone pick up weapons and test just how far he could go.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shut it off, locked it back up, and decided that a nap was in order.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ivo yawned loudly and obviously, pointedly ignoring Stone’s bemused look as he climbed into the bed right next to him and laid his head down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Agent Stone.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Doctor?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Protect me while I sleep.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, Doctor.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And don’t stay up too late watching TV, it’ll rot your brain.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“As you wish, Doctor. Sleep well.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter actually takes place not too long after Stone decided to use he/him pronouns. The incarnation right before had started with it/its and then ended with he/him. So it's fairly early in creation</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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